LCD running on 550 hardware

[Bruce Fairman]

the OpenDRO 0.4.0 version is running on the dro550 board with no LEDS and a 320x240 LCD (5 lines of 10 characters).
i have made a lot of changes but am trying to keep compatibility with the build model, making it easier to port future versions.
i will be posting the source code when i find a suitable site.
i am also going to do the mechanical stuff as soon as i get some pieces that are on order. basically, i plan to use an aluminum case and a new keypad, so the existing board goes in the box and the new stuff hooks up to it.
notice the 5 pairs of button next to the display - the display line will be directly configurable from the normal operation mode, no need to go through function hell. the units and abs/incr properties are by line rather than machine global.
future - i have found a 480x277 24 bit color LCD that will be used in the next version.

--Thanks,
bruce
KE6OKC

[Rick Sparber]

Bruce,

Great looking display but are you about to be blindsided by something like
the black and white Nook?

Rick

[Bruce Fairman]

Rick, black and white Nook?

--Thanks,
bruce
KE6OKC

[Rick Sparber]

Bruce,

The bookseller Barns and Noble sell an eReader called the Nook. Their lower
cost ($150) unit is just black and white. I've read about how it runs
Android and is very easy to hack. So a lot of people have been hijacking the
book reader and making it into other things. I also read how you can take
the color Nook and make it similar to an iPad including the ability to
interface with a Bluetooth keyboard. It turns out that the designers bought
a WiFi device that included BT because it cost less than just WiFi.

See

<http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/nook-software-only-jailbreak-already
-available/>

For example.

[Bruce Fairman]

Rick, i have a kyros internet tablet which has usb and runs android. full color, touch screen, wifi, ... i got it (~$160) intending to try some apps like a DRO with usb scales and other sensors. the kyros uses telechip's processor with integrated multimedia components. the support was spotty for the android/linux platform, other than at the app level, so it is on the back burner. it seemed to handle usb keyboards but nothing else. i am going to look again but it still requires doing hardware for the scales, etc.
my original thought was to use a usb camera to make a center/edge finder like this:
http://www.miketreth.mistral.co.uk/centrecam.htm
then go onto dro stuff.
the nook/internet tablets are a very interesting phenomenon because of the compute power-io/price factor.
i should have recognized the capitalN-Nook.

--Thanks,
bruce
KE6OKC

[Rick Sparber]

Bruce,

That USB/Edge Finder idea is very interesting. But he never gives absolute
accuracy figures. I look forward to reading what you find. Are you
considering integrating this camera with a DRO? That would be cool :-)